My Demon Pet System

The time available to the three adventurers was beginning to run out, and the rock walls were getting closer and closer to their faces. The fear of being swallowed up by that narrow, cold room was palpable.

"We're not giving it our best! But how do we figure out who did it with this little information? The three brothers are very similar to each other, and from their faces, I can't figure out who may have cheated on the other two!" Enatsu snorted. Surprisingly, the merchant managed to regain control of his thoughts, integrating Yoichi into the reasoning.

"Maybe it has something to do with the kind of wounds they have? I don't know, the fact that Ysai is the only headless one... or Osai, who doesn't have both legs... are you sure these are not important details?" Shioko asked. From the way she spoke, it was clear that she wasn't convinced of her statement either.

Unable to sit on her hands, waiting inexorably for the moment of the end, she too wanted to help.

"Every detail can be relevant. However, analyzing every single wound would take too long and..." Yoichi whispered, raising his arms and resting both hands on a wall, assessing its sliding speed. "We don't have that much."

"Yes, it's as you say. This riddle must have a trivial solution, but... I can't help but think of all those who died trying to solve it! Fuck this! Isn't there a way to slow down these tight walls? It would help me find concentration!" Enatsu complained again.

"So... the material the three brothers were talking about... the Tetsuiasa. Ysai affirmed it's an iron and gold alloy, which makes it valuable and versatile. One of them couldn't resist the temptation to recover it, knowing that once demons conquered the mine, he would lose his job," Yoichi thought aloud. "Asai, Osai and Ysai. Three brothers, three miners, one loot. But who did it? Which one of them decided to put the other two's lives at risk?" he continued.

"Ysai, the older brother, looks like the most sensible of the three. Osai and Asai are the youngest, so perhaps the most predisposed to selfishness and greed," Enatsu remarked, rubbing his chin.

Shioko, a few seconds earlier, had sat on the ground, putting pressure on the walls with her back on one side and her feet on the other. Although the cave floor was uneven, the positive or negative difference in height with the low edges of the wall was filled as it passed.

It was as if the two walls that continued to slide inexorably were made of a material harder than the floor. "Is that the best you got? Time is running out! Grrgh!" Shioko gasped. She was forced to stand up because of the small space.

A simple thing, a simple thing... Yoichi thought frantically. The young tamer put his fingers on his temples, squeezing his brains. "Dig this! Their names! The names of the three miners must be the key!" he boomed.

"Uh? Their names? Do you think their similar names may be the solution? But… how" Enatsu gulped. The back wall touched his shoulders, and the forward wall came into contact with the palms of his hands.

The length of the young merchant's outstretched arms corresponded to the distance between walls. Kenji and Rokuro approached the feet of their tamers, fearing the worst. In that extremely cramped space, Nobu could no longer fly freely and lay on Shioko's shoulder.

"Guys! What the fuck" she yelled, once again showing the most fragile side of her character. "Shut up, Shioko! I can't think if you keep talking in my ears!" Enatsu ranted, shaking his head.

"Asai, Osai, Ysai... so... Y... sai, O... sai and... A... sai. Three common letters and the different initial!" Yoichi affirmed, turning his head towards Enastu, forced between the two walls next to him. "What was the most precious thing for the three brothers? The only thing more important than their own life?" he asked his partner.

"The Tetsuiasa... the... Tetsu... iasa... I got it! Hahah! Fuck, you're a genius, Yoichi!" Enatsu rejoiced, smiling with his eyes. Shioko's face expressed the effort in trying to block the advance of the walls.

"The word 'Tetsu' means iron, right? The suffix 'iasa' is the anagram of Asai, the youngest brother!" Yoichi recapped to get one last confirmation from his companions.

"Tetsu-Asai... literally 'the iron of Asai'... Of course! That must be the answer... aargh!" The narrow walls suffocated Enatsu's voice. His chest, like that of Shioko and Yoichi, touched the muddy surface of the rocks.

The three of them were forced to turn their faces sideways to occupy as little space as possible. At that exact moment, realizing that this would be their only chance, Yoichi took the responsibility of speaking on behalf of his comrades.

"The answer is 'Asai'! He convinced you and Osai to go back for the Tetsuiasa!" yelled the young tamer, speaking to Ysai. The next moment, the air just out of his lungs failed to get back: his chest had been compressed, decreasing the space available to his internal organs.

The three adventurers closed their eyes, failing to witness the death of their Oracles, who would die crushed along with them. Their faces were soaked in black mud, which prevented them from breathing for only a few seconds.

Suddenly, the walls stopped. Enatsu's hands, the most frightened of the three, continued to tremble as the merchant held his breath.

In the following instant, the thick walls of the long rectangular room began to move away from each other. When the mud allowed the mouth and nose of the three tamers to breathe again, they threw themselves to the ground on their knees.

*anf*anf*anf* - Breathing hard and focusing his hands on the floor rocks, Yoichi was the first of them to realize he was alive. His body was filthy with dark mud due to the two walls impregnated with that sticky substance.